10 players could miss Tottenham vs Villarreal clash as Thomas Frank gives injury update

Tottenham could be without up to six stars for their Champions League opener against Villarreal. Spurs welcome the Spanish side to north London on Tuesday evening for their first league stage fixture of the campaign.

After winning the Europa League last term, they will certainly be keen to make a big impression. But Spurs have a huge task on their hands, though, with a host of players potentially ruled out for the game.

Longer-term absentee James Maddison remains restricted to the side-lines with a serious knee injury, while Dejan Kulusevski is not expected to return any time as he too continues his recovery from a knee issue.

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Striker Dominic Solanke has also been ruled out, but he's inching towards a comeback. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Spurs boss Thomas Franksaid: "Dom is taking steps in the right direction.

"So that is positive. As you saw out there, he is not ready to be involved tomorrow."

Elsewhere, Yves Bissouma and Kota Takai are still ruled out but could, potentially, return soon. The final absentee that Spurs are contending with is Radu Dragusin.

The Romanian has also been working through a long-term knee issue and has been stepping up his recovery in training. He initially trained with the first-team for the Villarreal game, but was pulled out to do some individual work. It appears unlikely that he will appear on Tuesday night.

One man who could, potentially, appear is forward Randal Kolo Muani. The Frenchman, signed on loan from PSG, could be in line to make his debut vs Villarreal.

"Randal Kolo Muani is ready,” Frank added. "How many minutes? They can always play more minutes than we think and of course if we needed him to play 90 minutes he could.

"But can he play at the intensity and the level we want? But he's ready - and involved tomorrow. That's the most important thing."

On the Villarreal side of things, the La Liga club have a few of their own absentees. Logan Costa and Pau Cabanes are out as they deal with long-term knee issues.

Ex-Manchester United youngster Willy Kambwala is also a doubt with a hamstring injury, while star striker Gerard Moreno looks unlikely to play due to his own hamstring problem.

One man who usually would not have been allowed to play is winger Manor Solomon. He is currently on loan from Spurs, but UEFA rules do not prevent him from taking to the pitch against his parent side.